The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group works to help people whose rights have been violated and investigates cases involving such abuse, as well as assessing the overall human rights situation in Ukraine. The Group also seeks to develop awareness of human rights issues through public events and its various publications

Seizure of the run of the newspaper “Svoboda”, No. 29 from the trading network of the agency “Soyuzdruk”

On 18 October 2000 Ya. Manarinskiy and A. Kraypiay, the officers of the Radiansky district militia directorate of Kyiv, seized the run of No. 29 the newspaper “Svoboda” from the trading network of the agency “Soyuzdruk” (a company-distributor of printed mass media. – Translators note).

Almost three years later O. Galynia, the head of precinct No. 1 of the Shevchenkivskiy (former Radiansky) district militia directorate of Kyiv, informed the editorial board that the seizure of the run of the newspaper was realized by the written order of the collegium of the General Prosecutors office of Ukraine. It is interesting that, after the results of the check of the contents of this issue, the Radiansky district prosecutors office took the decision on the refusal to start a criminal case on the basis of Article 6 item 2 of the Civil-Procedural Code of Ukraine (absence of corpus delicti).

Since March 2002 the prosecutors office of the Cherkassy oblast is illegally keeping the 107-thousand run of No. 11 of the newspaper “Svoboda”, and the investigation of the criminal case, on the basis of which the edition was seized from the printing shop “Respublika”, is still not finished.